Major Conservation Groups Accept Big Money from Big Polluters

Democracy Now featured Johann Hari who wrote an article in The Nation about the practice of major conservation groups accepting large donations from the largest polluters in the world. In turn, these conservation groups, including Conservation International, the Sierra Club, and the National Wildlife Federation, back the polluters' position on climate change and actually enhance their ability to increase emissions. The conservation groups set up PR outfits that portray their polluting donors as "green". But there are large environmental justice groups that don't accept corporate donations, including Greenpeace.

Interestingly, Hari argues that the grassroots environmental movement in Britain has refused to play this political game and has used direct action to stop the building or expansion of new coal-fired power plants and airports. Climate Camp UK is one such group that has successfully used direct action to stop new coal-fired power plants.